Download Ethics Considerations for Information Professionals

Ethics Considerations for
Information Professionals
LIS510
What is ethics?
• "Ethics is a guide for our morality when we
face complicated situations that eclipse
the level of our prior moral experience."
(Richard W. Severson (1997). The
Principles of Information Ethics. Armonk,
NY: M.E. Sharpe.
• "Ethics is mostly about how people should
be treated and how one should act, if one
wishes to act rightly." (Rubin, p. 266)
What is ethics?
• Ethics is the field of study that is concerned with
questions of value
• Ethical judgments are concerned with
distinguishing “good” or “bad” behavior in a
given situation
• Ethics include the standards, values, morals,
principles, etc., that we use as the basis for our
decisions or actions
• In ethical decision making, there is often no clear
“right” or "wrong” answer
What is ethics?
• Ethics refers to well based standards of right and
wrong that prescribe what we ought to do
• This is usually expressed in terms of rights,
obligations, benefits to society, fairness, or specific
virtues
• It refers to those standards that impose reasonable
obligations to refrain from rape, stealing, murder,
fraud
• It includes those relating to rights (to life, to
freedom from injury, to privacy)
• These are adequate ethical standards because they
are supported by consistent and well founded
What is ethics?
• Ethics also refers to the study and development of
one's ethical standards
• Feelings, laws, and social norms can deviate from
what is ethical
• It is necessary to constantly examine one's standards
to ensure that they are reasonable and well-founded
• Ethics means a continuous effort of studying our own
moral beliefs and our moral conduct
• Through the application of ethics, we strive to ensure
that we, and the institutions we help to shape, live up
to standards that are reasonable and solidly-based
Importance of Ethics
• Ethics provide a framework for
– Conducting essential information functions
– Instituting information policies
– Developing strategies for information services
• Ethical conduct of information professionals is
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Affirmation of the critical value of services
Affirmation of responsibility to themselves and society
Affirmation of respect for others
Affirmation of the need to improve society
Need for Discussing Ethical Issues
• Librarianship is a service-oriented
profession
• Library user is the most important
stakeholder
Historical Ethical Orientations in
Librarianship
• The First Period (before 1930)
– Focusing on responsibilities to library
collections
• The Second Period (1930-1950)
– Focusing on human aspects of library
services, e.g. staff and patrons
• The Third Period (since 1960)
– Focusing on the broader information needs of
society as a whole
Growing Interest in Professional
Ethics
• Journal of Information Ethics
• More people aware of their ethical
obligations in the workplace
Three Basic Elements in
Professional Ethics
• Self: the moral agent who acts or suffers
the consequences of others’ actions
• Organization: the institution acting in an
autonomous manner
• Environment: the standards of the
community/professional societies
Ethics in Library and Information Science
with Two Focuses
• Information ethics: Use and misuse of information
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Ownership of information
Intellectual property rights
Free or restricted access to information
Use of government information
Assurance of privacy and confidentiality
Data integrity
International flow of information
• Professional ethics: profession conduct/behavior
– How information professionals apply ethical principles to
decisions and actions
– Are closely related to information ethics and often overlap with it
Four Factors in Ethical Deliberations that
are Important to Librarians
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Social Utility
Survival
Social responsibility
Respect for the individual
Four Questions for Libraries Involved in
Ethical Deliberations
• To what extent is the survival of the organization
threatened?
• To what extent will the purpose of the
organization be benefited or harmed?
• To what extent is the organization or employee
socially responsible or irresponsible when acting
in a particular manner?
• To what extent are the actions of the
organization or individuals acting in its behalf
harming or benefiting other individuals,
organizations, or the profession?
Categories of Ethical Concern
• Free access to information/effects of
information
• Selection decisions
• Privacy
• Copyright
• Information organization
• Information policy
• Information quality
Categories of Ethical Concern
• Administrative issues
– Ethical issues of consultants
– Ethical obligations to those doing business with the
library
– Ethical aspects regarding the treatment of personnel
– Violation of privacy
– Misuse of authority
– Organizational inadequacies
• Archival issues
Professional Considerations in Ethical
Deliberations
• ALA Code of Ethics
– Access issues
– Rights of authors and creators
– Employment issues
• ASIST Professional Guidelines
ALA Code of Ethics
I.
We provide the highest level of service
to all library users through appropriate
and usefully organized resources;
equitable service policies; equitable
access; and accurate, unbiased, and
courteous responses to all requests.
ALA Code of Ethics
II.
We uphold the principles of intellectual
freedom and resist all efforts to censor
library resources.
III. We protect each library user’s right to
privacy and confidentiality with respect
to information sought or received and
resources consulted, borrowed,
acquired or transmitted.
ALA Code of Ethics
IV. We respect intellectual property rights
and advocate balance between the
interests of information users and rights
holders.
V. We treat co-workers and other
colleagues with respect, fairness and
good faith, and advocate conditions of
employment that safeguard the rights
and welfare of all employees of our
institutions.
ALA Code of Ethics
VI.
We do not advance private interests at the
expense of library users, colleagues, or our
employing institutions.
VII. We distinguish between our personal
convictions and professional duties and do
not allow our personal beliefs to interfere with
fair representation of the aims of our
institutions or the provision of access to their
information resources.
ALA Code of Ethics
VIII. We strive for excellence in the
profession by maintaining and
enhancing our knowledge and skills, by
encouraging the professional
development of co-workers, and by
fostering the aspirations of potential
members of the profession.
Special Ethical Problems with Information
Technologies
• Computers are extremely fast
• Computer use is often private and anonymous
• Computer access can be accomplished from
great distance
• The electronic medium is easily copies
• Large number of people are easily reached
• A Code of Ethics for Computer Use
– Ten Commandments of Computer Ethics
Ethics and IT
• Our increasing reliance on computing and networks has
created many benefits for society
• However, in addition to intended consequences, every
social action also has unintended consequences
• The dark side of computing
– Computer crime
– Unreliable hard/software
– Software piracy
– Invasion of privacy
– Hacking and cracking
– Workplace surveillance
– Viruses and worms
– Data mining
Approaches to Promote Ethical
Conduct
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Establishing rules and regulations
Developing training and education programs
Punishing individual for ethical violations
Establishing an ethics code for the organization
Hiring and promoting individuals with ethical
behavior and understanding
• Developing a system of rewards for both ethical
actions and unethical ones
Discussion
• A patron requests that he be furnished
with information that would permit him to
build a small bomb, "just big enough to
demolish a small, suburban house." Would
you, as a reference librarian, provide the
information as requested? If not, what
would you do, and how would you defend
your action?